After not being shut out even once last season in 70 games, the New York Rangers have been blanked four times in 25 games. The latest was a discouraging 4-0 loss to the Bruins in Boston. It was a game that the Rangers were looking to rebound from a disappointing pair of losses to the Penguins. It didn’t happen.
The Rangers were inept in many ways. They were inept on the power play. Their effort to comeback was inept. Their attempt to shut down the Bruins top line was inept. They were inept in goal (for part of the game).
Did they give up? No. Did they keep trying? Yes. But for the third game in a row, they couldn’t overcome a deficit and went down relatively meekly.
In their postgame interviews, David Quinn, Brendan Smith and Jacob Trouba tried to accentuate the positive, they they continued to skate and work hard. It was similar to the reaction in Pittsburgh when they dominated in the third period, allowing on only one shot at the empty net. Hockey games are 60 minutes and playing hard the last 20 minutes is not the answer, unless you win.
Smith placed the issue on special teams and the Bruins top line, but said that the Rangers played them five on five pretty evenly.
Quinn said that the mistakes the Rangers are making are “too big.” He didn’t single out Georgiev for any criticism, placing blame on the forwards, defense and goalie and he called the shorthanded goal a “backbreaker.”
Trouba actually took exception to being asked if things had spiraled out of control after the Rangers fell behind. “I don’t think it spiraled out of control on us. Obviously we had some breakdowns that led to more goals, I don’t think our effort fell off a cliff.” The fact remains that after falling behind 2-0 after one period, they mustered all of three shots in the second period and gave up two goals in the first five minutes. The game was over at the 25 minute mark.
They might have felt better about their effort because the Bruins took a penalty with less than three minutes left in the game and the Rangers poured eight shots at the Bruins goal with four of them getting through to Jaroslav Halak. That late push might have encouraged the team, but it was small consolation to anyone who watched the game.
In an insane statistic, the Rangers have scored three power play goals in their last seven games and have given up three shorthanded goals. They’ve had 19 power plays in that time and if anyone tries to tell you that their success rate is 15.6% they are wrong. It’s 0%.
The Rangers are now nine points out of a playoff spot. How bad is it? If the fourth place Bruins play .500 hockey the rest of the way and go 16-16, they will finish with 64 points. In order for the Ranger to pass the Bruins, they would have to win 21 of their last 31 games.
It’s time to start thinking about the trade deadline and the NHL Entry Draft.
Here’s a full video recap of the game: